Anything For You
by Kentex4
Summary: Derek, having just gone through a divorce and gaining Joint Custody of his Son Elias, is a very busy dad. Sometimes, a guy needs help. So what if that help comes from his son's daycare teacher? (Title from Anything For You by Ludo)
1. Chapter 1

Stiles entered the classroom to nine high-pitched squeals of his name.

"Hey Jacob, Sarah, what's up you guys?" He returned the hugs they gave him happily, letting each of them get close and run their mouths about what had happened to them in the last six days.

They reminded him of what he was like when he was a kid, babbling about absolutely nothing, talking over others, some even climbing over others for his attention.

He'd learned how to filter his thoughts, but they still came spilling over sometimes. Okay, all the time, but not around the kids. Never around them.

Scott saved him from the babbling spider-monkeys by calling them back to him. "Are you guys just going to talk to him all day, or do you want him to actually read you a story like he's supposed to?"

The kids quickly dispersed and sat down in the middle of the room, culminating around a plush green armchair. "Stiles, Stiles, hurry!"

He smiled widely at them, then looked down at a tug on his jeans. Darby, one of the youngest girls, was there, thumb in mouth and clutching tight to her blanket and sitting on the floor, like always. Her thin blonde hair was wrapped up in a ponytail, sparkling blue eyes full of wonder.

Darby was one of Stiles' favorite kids, mostly because the three year old had never spoken a word to him before. Hell, he didn't even know if she could speak.

He picked her up gently and carried her over to the chair, setting her on his lap before taking a giant book of fairy tales from Scott.

"What do you guys want to hear today?" He asked.

"Little Red Riding Hood!" A dark haired five year old bounced in his place. This was Elias, the most hyperactive kid in the universe. He thought he out-ADD'ed Stiles sometimes.

"You ask for that every time, Elias." Scott chuckled.

"And one of these days, you'll give it to me." Elias huffed.

"What about…" Stiles skimmed the table of contents for something they hadn't read before.

"Pocahontas!" Sarah squealed.

"That's a movie, not a story tale, stupid!" Elias bit out at her.

"Hey!" Scott used his teacher-voice, and that shut Elias up. "We don't use that kind of language here."

Stiles put on his happy face. "Why don't you pick a story out Darby?" He asked the girl on his lap. She couldn't read, obviously, but he opened up to the table of contents. Her finger departed her mouth with a pop and she left a wet mark over the 'ix' in 'The Six Swans'. "If you insist."

As usual, each child clung desperately to his every word, loving when he brought a seemingly mundane story to life. They gasped when the brothers told the girl she only had six years to stitch together six swan shirts, and then they would be freed from their swan bodies.

"Why doesn't she just buy them from the store?" Sarah asked, holding her knees to her chest.

"Because these are special shirts, shirts that must be sewn from pure rose petals." Stiles told her.

She smiled. "They must smell nice."

"I'm sure, but they're a pain to make." Stiles winked. He continued with the story, and by the time the girl had gotten her voice back, it was time for the children to leave.

Darby's mom took a moment of her time to talk with Scott in hushed tones, Darby held between them, oblivious.

"What did Erica want?" Stiles muttered under his breath.

"More pack stuff." Scott whispered as he passed by, searching for one of the kids coats. "Nothing much Stiles, don't worry about it."

Stiles felt a pulling on his leg. "My daddy's here." Elias beamed up at him.

"You know how to sign them out Stiles, you work here." Scott called from the other end of the room.

"C'mon you little rascal!" He hoisted Elias over his shoulder and ran down the hall, the boy squealing and laughing. "Raaaaa!" Stiles growled and let him down; Elias threw his arms in the air and disappeared into the crowd of parents.

Stiles, Scott, and one of their co-workers, Allison, greeted the parents and said farewell to their students.

"Stiles! Stiles! Stiles!" Elias shot out of the slowly draining crowd and crashed into Stiles' knees. "Stiles, this is my daddy, he wanted to talk to you!"

Stiles looked up at the man Elias was referring to, a tall one with dark hair, dark eyes, and a rugged jaw line.

"Stiles?" He asked.

"Derek?" It dawned on Stiles where he'd seen this man before. He knew him back in high school, back when Scott had first turned. You could say he'd been a big part of Stiles' life, but he'd moved on so quickly he'd almost forgotten… "Derek Hale?"

"I didn't know you worked here." Derek gestured to the day care they were standing in.

"I read to the kids in the afternoon." Stiles explained.

"He still won't read me Red Riding Hood." Elias pouted.

"Good thing too." Derek looked down at the boy affectionately and ruffled his dark hair. "You don't need any more wolf stories." Derek actually smiled at Stiles. "I swear, I read him the Three Little Pigs once and he can't stop thinking about the Big Bad Wolf."

Scott joined their one-sidedly-awkward conversation just in the knick of time. "Hey Derek. Doesn't Elias' mom usually pick him up?"

Derek immediately went back to his original sour-wolf frown. "She-"

"Mommy left because my daddy likes other daddies!" Elias was all too happy to be delivering this information, and Stiles blushed. Derek remained stone faced.

Scott and Stiles both stared, unable to form words, but luckily they were saved by Allison. "I'm sorry to hear that Derek. You doing okay without her?"

"Of course." Derek had his pride. "I think I should go. Scott, don't forget about tonight." He left without another word.

"Well he's ominous and disturbing." Stiles commented. "What was that about?"

"We've got a pack meeting tonight, man. God, you've been gone awhile." Scott rolled his eyes, something he must have picked up from Stiles. "Actually, Derek needs a babysitter for tonight. Do you think you could-"

"Of course!" Stiles answered emphatically, surreptitiously checking his watch. "Shit, Scott, I've got to go."

"See you tonight." Scott waved goodbye to his best friend, then joined Allison in closing up the day-care.

Stiles approached the large, looming Hale house. At least it wasn't a dark, burned out shell like it was all those years ago. He guessed Derek had tried to fix it up for his kid, and probably his wife too.

The door was unlocked, so he just walked in, to be greeted by a horde of happy werewolves.

"Stiles!" Erica leapt up from the couch to hug her old best friend. "Where ya been, Batman? You haven't been to a pack meeting since high school! What happened?"

"Uh…" Stiles looked around at all of his old friends, who were waiting. "I went to college." He said nervously.

"We all did too; but we still made it back at least monthly for meetings." Erica's smile deflated a bit. "Where were you?"

"Montana. I emailed."

"You could have come down every once and awhile. We needed you." She looked betrayed, almost. Erica might have confidence the size of a mountain, but with Stiles… she couldn't help showing true emotions.

"You didn't need me, I'm just a human."

Stiles barely finished his sentence before Erica's palm collided with his cheekbone. "Don't you ever-"

"Erica!" Derek had magically appeared in the doorway to what looked like the kitchen. "That's the last time you do that."

"I'm sorry." Erica immediately went into submissive-mode. "But he-"

"I know." Derek handed Stiles a mug of coffee, which he almost immediately spilled on himself; mostly due to a three-and-a-half foot missile shooting into his kneecaps.

"Stiles!" It squealed, and the shining face of Elias beamed up at him.

"Hey buddy!" Stiles passed his- now half empty- mug to Erica and picked up the little monster.

"What are you doing out of bed?" Derek demanded in his Daddy-voice.

"I couldn't sleep!" Elias insisted from Stiles' arms. "All this noise. And Stiles is here!" He hugged the young man around the neck. "I can't go to sleep now, Daddy."

Derek rolled his eyes. "Elias, you have school tomorrow…"

"Is that Mister Scott?!" Elias noticed the others in the room. "Hi Mister Scott! Can I stay up tonight? Please? You won't mind if I'm tired tomorrow, right Mister Scott?" Elias pleaded with his teacher.

"No, Elias-" Derek tried to take him from Stiles.

"Please daddy? Please? Stiles is here!"

Stiles glanced awkwardly between the boy and his father. "Derek, I can take him upstairs, you can debrief from last time, and I'll be down soon."

Derek gave his son a pointed look. "Would you go to sleep if Stiles read to you?"

Elias seemed to weigh his options for a moment. "Yes! I would." He turned his full attention to Stiles. "Would you read to me? Please?"

"Sure kiddo." Stiles wobbled up the stairs with a new, uneven weight on his hip. The weight babbled on about how much he missed Stiles over the day, occasionally hugging his neck while Stiles tried to wrangle the boy back into his bed.

"Can you read this one?" Elias held up a book from his nightstand with both hands.

Stiles looked around for a chair or something, and then, finding none, decided to sit on the floor. Elias frowned.

"No Stiles." Elias patted the bed beside him. "Sit here." Stiles obeyed. "My daddy and mommy used to read this book to me." Elias says without a hint of sadness. "Daddy doesn't like to read it anymore."

Stiles swallowed around a jealous lump in his throat. Derek read this book to his son. With his wife. They probably kissed after they finished it. They probably went back to their room after they put Elias to bed. They probably spent the whole night-

"Stiles?" He looked down at the wide eyes of the boy. "Stiles you went all quiet."

"I'm sorry." Stiles cleared his throat and opened the book. "Guess How Much I Love You." He read aloud.

Derek's ears pricked while Isaac spoke. Stiles was still upstairs, reading to his son. The words as much as the voice caught his attention.

"'I love you as high as I can reach.' Said the Little Nut-Brown Hare. 'Well I love you as high as I can reach.' Said the Big Nut-Brown Hare."

Derek froze.

"'I love you all the way to the moon.' Said the Little Nut-Brown Hare. The Big Nut-Brown Hare kissed his forehead-" There was a smack like lips on skin. "And whispered 'I love you to the moon and back.'" Another smack. "Goodnight Elias."

"Night-night Stiles." There was some shuffling, probably Stiles getting up off the bed. His footsteps drew closer to the door. "Stiles?" He stopped.

"Yeah Elias?"

"Is my daddy going to kiss me goodnight too?"

Derek stood up from his armchair and growled. "We're done here." He said tersely, then marched up the stairs.

"Sure, I'll go grab him."

Derek reached for the door handle at the same moment it was wrenched open. "Stiles."

"Oh, hey!" Stiles beamed. "Elias wants a kiss goodnight. I was just about to come get you."

Derek shoved past him and kissed his son's forehead. "Goodnight, Elias." He grunted, but Elias didn't seem to mind. He then seized Stiles by the collar and slammed the door behind him.

"Hey, hey, Derek! What-"

"Why were you reading that book?" Derek demanded in a hushed, violent tone.

"He asked me to! What's wrong? I can't read your kid whatever he damn pleases?" Stiles switched the offensive.

"Not that one. Any book in that whole damn room and you picked Guess How Much I Love You?!"

"Derek, it's not a big deal! He told me to read that book specifically and I did!" Stiles started to worm around in Derek's grasp. "Seriously, you have a very bossy five year old."

"Shut up." Derek snarled. "We'd read it to him." He'd suddenly calmed. "When we were together."

"Did you love her?" Stiles asked quietly. Derek's hand was still on his collar, but it wasn't as tight as before.

Derek shook his head. "I don't know."

"Was she a wolf?"

"No."

"Is he a wolf?"

"It doesn't… no. He's human." Derek switched gears, slamming Stiles against the wall with renewed hostility. "Why does it matter?"

"It doesn't." Stiles covered quickly. "How does me reading that book affect him?" He stares right back at Derek fearlessly. Derek can practically see Stiles brain-gears churning. "Unless it doesn't. Unless it hurts you more than anything else. Unless my reading that book to your kid reminds you of your wife-"

"Ex-wife." Derek corrected.

"So what? Derek, Elias loves you. It doesn't matter to him if you like guys, he just wants you to-"

"To what, Stiles?!" Derek whisper-yells, then drags Stiles down the stairs to the kitchen. "I think it's fascinating that you know exactly what my kid wants."

"He wants you to pay attention to him! He wants you to take ten minutes out of your fucking day to sit down and read him a book before bedtime!" Stiles screamed. "He wants you to take him to a ball game or do a puzzle! The least you could do is eat dinner with the kid!"

"How do you know that?!" Derek barked.

"Because I was him!" Stiles' voice cracked. Derek backed up a step. "All I wanted to do when I was younger was hang out with my dad, but he was too busy at work to tuck me in and…" Stiles swallowed thickly. "Read me a book."

The room went silent.

Stiles could practically hear Derek swallow. "You can leave now, if you want."

"Okay." He knows when he's not wanted. "Call me. You know, if Elias needs a babysitter."

Derek nods tersely, but Stiles doesn't see; he's already in his jeep.


	2. IntermissionFlashback Sequence

Chapter 2: Intermission

Elias liked to hide behind the couch.

It started with Hide and Seek one day, his friends from school running around the house looking for him.

"Jesus, Jen, it's not my fault!" Daddy yelled back.

"Whose fault is it, then?! Who was he?!"

"What? There is no 'he'-"

"Then how do you know? Did it just 'occur to you'?" Mommy accused.

"It just hit me-" Daddy tried again.

"Who is he?!" Mommy screamed.

Daddy breathed through his nose, like he does when Elias breaks something on accident. "I wouldn't do that to you."

"No, but you're doing this to me." Mommy said, so softly Elias almost couldn't hear.

"Babe, I'm sorry-"

"Don't 'babe' me!" Mommy snapped. There was the sound of Mommy's keys, then her purse, then her heels on the tile getting closer to his hiding place.

"Don't leave, we can talk about this…" Daddy said weakly, pleading with Mommy.

"What is there to talk about?" Mommy huffed. "Bottom line, Derek. Could you possibly love me again?"

"Love you how?"

"Exactly."

Elias shrunk deeper into the shadows behind the couch so his Mommy wouldn't see him when she walked out and slammed the front door.

Daddy let out a weird noise, like an animal, and a glass broke. Elias flinched and let out a little cry of distress.

"Elias?" Daddy said quietly. "Elias, where are you?"

Elias climbed out from behind the couch and trudged into the kitchen reluctantly. "I was behind the couch." He admits, already feeling chastised.

"Don't come in here, there's broken glass…" Daddy trailed off when Elias lifted his hands. He silently obliged, picking up his son and taking him to the living room. "Were you listening?"

Elias nodded silently, clinging to his daddy tightly, like he could lose him. "Why is Mommy gone?"

"She…" Daddy stopped, obviously thinking. "Mommy left because Daddy likes other daddies."

"Like how Uncle Peter likes other Uncles?" Elias looked up curiously, rubbing one eye with his balled up fist.

"Well, Uncle Peter likes Aunts and Uncles, or mommies and daddies, I guess... More like Uncle Isaac and Uncle Danny."

"Okay. But why does Mommy have to leave? She still likes Uncle Isaac."

Daddy sighed. "It's hard for daddies who like daddies to be married to mommies. It doesn't work."

"Can mommies like other mommies?"

"Sure they can. Darby's mommies love each other very much."

"Then maybe Mommy will find another mommy to love!"

Daddy let out a laugh, but it sounded funny. Like he was holding part of it in. "I hope Mommy finds someone to love too."

"Am I going to have two mommies too?"

"I don't know, Elias." Derek scooped up his kid and carried him to the couch.

"Can I have two daddies?" He beamed hopefully.

"Sure, of course." Derek agreed. At least, if he didn't get re-married, Jen might.


	3. Chapter 3

Derek did call Stiles about watching Elias again. Well, rather, text. At 7.55pm. On a Friday.

Stiles was enjoying his evening, only just settling in to catch up on his DVR when his phone buzzed. He sighed in exasperation, but got in his jeep anyway.

The door to the Hale house was open, so Stiles took this as an invitation to walk right in.

"Stiiiiiiiiiiileeeeeeeeeeees!" His name was stretched out from the living room to the front door.

"Hey kiddo!" Stiles said to the tiny head buried in his kneecaps. "What's shakin' bacon?"

"Nothing important!" Elias' voice was muffled by his jeans. "Daddy's just leaving for work now!"

"Work?" Stiles checked his watch. 8.15. "Why is he going to work?"

"Because sometimes people get called in late." Derek said as he stepped out of his kitchen. "My regular sitter isn't available. I hope you don't mind." Derek inserted a leather wallet into his mouth after he spoke, presumably to put on the leather jacket he was also holding.

"It's fine. Where the… heck do you work anyway?" Stiles was getting better at watching his language around the kids.

"Cernstertion." Derek murmured around the leather.

"I'm sorry?"

He removed his wallet and slid it into his back pocket. "Construction and carpentry. My interior designer needs me to do some more grunt work."

"Tell them that I appreciate it." He beamed down at Elias. "I like babysitting this one."

"Tell her yourself. She only drops by my house once a week." Derek reached past Stiles for his keys.

"What?"

"Lydia comes by for… our meetings too, you know." Derek rolled his eyes. "She comes with Erica."

Stiles' eyebrows rose gradually. "You work for Lydia?"

"Yes. I'll be home in an hour, tops. Please have him in bed by then." Derek bent to kiss an eager Elias on the forehead.

"You've got it."

Derek rose to leave, but held back at Elias' 'love me' voice. "Does Stiles get one?"

Both older men stared at the boy. "A what?"

"A kiss. Can Stiles have a kiss too?" Elias' eyes were huge; Stiles swore if they got any bigger they were going to pop out of his head.

Stiles broke the silent staring contest between father and son with a forced laugh. "I think your daddy needs to get to work now, buddy. Why don't we go do something else?" He took Elias' outstretched hand. "See you later, Derek."

"Later." Derek grunted on his way out the door.

Stiles put the book he'd been reading aside, looking down at the small boy curled into his side.

"I think it's time for bed." He whispered. No reply was given, only a sigh and sudden tiny wet spot on his shirt. "I always knew you were a drooler." He smiled down at Elias, then shifted carefully as not to disturb the small boy.

Stiles crept downstairs and raided the kitchen for coffee in the dark. His search was aided by the lights flickering on.

"Stiles?"

He nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden light-bulbs-on-and-honey-Derek's-home combination. "Hey… Derek. I didn't know you were home."

"What are you doing here?" Derek set his work bag down beside the counter.

"What?" Stiles flailed in an attempt to upright himself. "I was getting coffee. Elias just fell asleep."

"Then why are you still here?" Derek growled, taking off his jacket and throwing it across a chair.

"I didn't want to leave your kid in this giant-ass house alone. Do you know what that does to a kid?"

"No." Derek searched the mug cabinet for a second, then glared at Stiles. "That's my favorite mug."

"Do I care?" Stiles added crème to his cup and sipped it leisurely.

Derek continued to attempt boring a hole in his skull with his vision. "No, please, make yourself at home." He drawled.

"Thanks." Stiles smiled, detecting sarcasm. It takes one to know one. "Did you know Elias drools?" He tapped his sleeve. "I found that out tonight." Derek grunted in response. "Did you know that?"

Derek shook his head. Stiles laughed humorlessly and rolls his eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry that I don't let my kid drool on me." Derek bit out. "It doesn't mean I don't care."

"That's not all that makes me feel like you don't care, Derek! You leave him at daycare every day, then take him home and don't even play with him! You stick him on the couch and hope he doesn't talk to you!" Stiles slammed Derek's mug against the counter, cracking the ceramic.

"Don't talk to me like I don't know how to raise my own kid!"

"Maybe because you don't! He's lonely, Derek! He needs you to-"

"Are you guys talking about me?" A tiny voice trickled in from the doorway.

"Elias, what are you doing up?" Derek's tone softened and he took a step towards his son.

"I heard you guys yelling. I wanted you to stop."

Stiles adopted a soft smile and kneels in front of Elias, resting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Elias. Your Daddy and I just had a disagreement."

"Daddy has loud disagreements."

"How many people does Daddy disagree with?"

Elias shook his head. "Just Mommy."

Stiles glared over his shoulder at Derek, who glared back. "C'mon Elias. Let's go back to bed." Stiles ended up getting him back to bed in ten minutes, only to return downstairs to Derek's scowling face.

"Good job, you've officially traumatized your kid."

"Leave."

Stiles frowned. "Fine. I thought we'd made progress. Whatever." He's pretty sure Derek could hear the genuine sour tone in his voice, but he didn't care; he simply walked out, keys jangling against his fingers.


	4. Chapter 4

Halloween night. Before Derek was a dad, he looked at it as another day. Now, it was the week before Elias' dentist appointment. Also the day he fails miserably to pawn his kid off to the rest of the pack.

That year was no exception.

Derek opened the door quickly; looked down at Caleb, then up at his parents, Scott and Allison, leading their son inside, past a gaping Derek. He grabbed Scott's arm and dragged him aside. "What the hell is your kid dressed as?"

"You don't recognize it?" Scott shook his head. "What was childhood for you?" He left to reapply some of the green makeup that was already coming off their little rugrats' nose.

"You need to put this on."

Derek turned about to face Stiles, who was dressed as a cowboy.

Derek's jaw resisted dropping. The only thing that was missing was ass-less chaps. "I need to do what?" Derek swallowed thickly.

"Put this on." He held up a thin plastic bag that was stuffed full. "Otherwise I look stupid."

"You don't look stupid." Derek said quickly.

"Seriously?! Me, walking around, dressed as Woody with three toddlers, one of which is the fruit of your loins. So you're coming with me."

"Why don't Scott and Allison have to go?!" Derek borderline whined.

"Because they, and Erica, have dates. We don't. Put the damn thing on."

"Erica's coming?" He took the bag.

"Yes, and she's bringing her daughter, Darby, Making kid #3. Sweetie still isn't talking or walking, so you better still have some kind of wagon." Stiles crossed his arms tightly. "Because Darby sits on my lap every story time, and I am not carrying her all night."

"Is this a Buzz Lightyear costume?!" Derek held the bag open for Stiles to see.

"Yes. I'm going to go help Elias with his alien costume, apparently the zipper is stuck." Stiles shoved Derek towards the bathroom. "Now put that on and I'll make sure your little monster doesn't run around in the neighborhood in the nude."

Derek sighed and slammed the door to change. Fine, Have Stiles take care of his naked kid, see if he cared.

When he came out, all of the adults were gone with the wind, the only ones left in the house being the kids.

And Stiles.

Who was sitting on the living room floor, helping the kids pick out which one of Elias' pillowcases they wanted to use. Darby rolled forward and dropped to her stomach, reaching for Stiles.

"Which one do you want?" He held up two of them, Caleb having already chosen his. Darby made grabby-hands at the red and black Mickey Mouse one, and Stiles gave it to her.

"I look stupid." Derek drew their attention.

"Daddy!" Elias screeched at the same time Stiles said "Derek!" harshly.

"What?" He griped.

"Language!" Stiles chided.

Derek Rolled his eyes. "Shut up."

"Daddy! Stiles said no mean words!" Elias stood up and ran to his Daddy, dragging his new white pillowcase along the floor. Great. "Stiles knows best!"

Derek snorted. "Since when?"

"You hush." Stiles gave Caleb the last pillowcase and struggled to pick up a wiggling Darby. "It's time to go anyway."

"Go where? It's barely six."

"Yeah, and these guys have bedtime at eight. Strap in cowboy, you have to waste two whole hours with your kid!" Stiles gave a faux-gasp. "The horror! The horror!"

Derek growled but took the other two by the hands. "Fine. But you're the cowboy. I am a spaceman." He practically dragged Caleb and Elias out to the (Thank God) wagon, and Stiles wondered if the tights on Derek's costume run a size small.

The whole night is, quite frankly, a disaster. Having three critters running from house to house, Caleb trying to eat a Tootsie roll while he ran, Elias screaming for his daddy to 'hurry up, these stairs are too big for me'. Stiles ended up carrying Darby half of the time anyway, because, well, stairs. Two parents tried to short Darby on her candy, insisting (Politely, kind of.) that Derek and Stiles would be eating it anyway. Stiles insisted that he was sure Darby could chew fine on her own, and if anyone was eating her candy, it would be Lydia at two o'clock this morning. The parents, not knowing or caring who Lydia was, gave it to Darby anyway, to which the toddler gifted them with a spittle-dribbled smile.

They got back to the Hale house at around seven fifty, much to the dismay of the boys. Stiles got them cleaned up while Derek made snacks, and the three sat on the den floor, inspecting each piece of candy individually before cramming it in their mouths.

Finally, finally, their parents dragged them home, and it was time to put Elias to bed, who was not going without a fight.

"I wanna kiss." He demanded. Derek obliged, but the child didn't budge. "From Stiles too."

Stiles gave him a 'Moi?' face, before bending down and kissing Elias' fuzzy head.

"Bed." Derek grunted.

"No. Stiles gets one too." Elias huffed.

Stiles flushed.

"Elias, Stiles and Daddy don't kiss."

"Kiss goodnight, or no bedtime." The two men stared at him. "I've had candy. I could stand here all night."

"Told you he was bossy." Stiles snorted.

Derek growled, but leaned over and kissed Stiles' cheek. Stiles flushed even further, then turned as quickly back to Elias as quickly as possible. "Bedtime, buddy."

"Okay!" Elias sprinted up the stairs with renewed vigor.

Stiles tucked him in and when he came back downstairs, Derek was still standing there.

"Derek, you okay?"

Derek just stared at him.

"I'm going to head home now, I'll see you at the next pack meeting." He grabbed his coat from the closet and started to leave, but turned around halfway out the door. "Derek, why don't Stiles and Daddy kiss?"

"Excuse me?" Derek choked.

"Why don't we kiss?"

"Because we're not together, in any form or fashion." Derek turned on his heel and stalked to the kitchen. "Goodnight, Stiles."


	5. Chapter 5

Sharing custody was hard. It was hard on Elias, who hated being shipped back and forth for a weekend at a time, and it was hard on Derek, who had to pick him up half the time. Usually, Stiles volunteered to get him, and that was nice of him, but occasionally, Derek had to pick up the slack. And he hated forcing his kid on Stiles all the time, especially when it meant he had to hang out with Stiles for at least an hour or so after the drop off.

Not that that was a bad thing. Stiles was great. He was too great. He knew just what Derek liked and just how he liked it, knew all the little idiosyncrasies of Derek's life. He was always there when Derek needed him, and by god, Derek was starting to care about Stiles. He'd listen, and if Stiles didn't eventually loop away from funny things that Elias said in the car, Derek would go so far as to ask him about his day.

"Daddy," Elias peered at him from the back seat, making eye contact in the rear view mirror and waking him from his introspection. "What's a slut?"

Derek choked. "What?!"

"Mommy says Stiles is a slut. Is that because he's a teacher?"

"I have no idea how those two things would be similar."

"Well, Mommy is a Teacher too, and Aunt Erica called her a slut once. Is it another word for teacher?"

Derek frowned. "No, it's not, and Erica shouldn't have said that about Mommy. But Mommy also shouldn't have said that about Stiles, okay?"

"Why not? What does it mean?"

"It's a very mean word." Derek pulled into their driveway and parked his car. "Look, kiddo, I can't lie to you, but I can put this in terms you'll understand."

Elias folded his hands in his lap patiently, waiting for his explanation.

"A slut is a person… who goes on too many dates. They go on lots of dates with lots of people, and they don't care about anyone's feelings getting hurt."

"Then why is Mommy a slut? She doesn't go on dates."

"Well, She's not a slut. That's why Erica was wrong to say that about Mommy."

"Stiles doesn't go on dates either. He comes over to our house and plays with me."

Derek nodded. "That's right. But Mommy thinks that Stiles comes over to our house to go on dates with me, not to play with you."

"Oh." Elias nodded solemnly and unbuckled his seatbelt. "When can Stiles come over again?" He asked, changing the subject.

"I don't know." Derek answered honestly, getting out of the car to help his son.

"Can he come over now?" Elias asked, letting Derek scoop him up from under his armpits and haul him out of the car, which was too tall for him to climb down from.

"I mean, I guess. Why do you ask, buddy?"

"Because he's here!" Elias pointed behind Derek emphatically. "Hi Stiles!"

Derek spun around to see Stiles waving back at Elias, approaching cautiously. "Stiles?"

"Hey, Derek." There was something in his smile, some sort of unease that Derek couldn't place.

"What are you doing here?" Derek asked, letting Elias go so he could go hug his favorite teacher/babysitter. "I can take care of Elias tonight, on my own."

Stiles shook his head. "Actually, uh, I'm here to talk to you."

Derek looked really dumb when he was surprised. "Oh. Okay. Uh, come on inside."

Stiles followed the two of them inside, Elias chattering away about all the things he and Mommy did during their weekend together.

"Come play with me, Stiles!" Elias pleaded, tugging on his sleeves.

"Hey, buddy, I love to hang out right now, but I need to talk to your Daddy for a second, okay?"

"Okay! We can play later though, right?"

"Of course." Stiles promised.

It was with that promise that Elias beamed and ran off, leaving Derek and Stiles alone in the kitchen.

"So." Derek started. "...How was your day?"

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Oh my God Derek, this, again?"

Derek blinked at him. "Uh… what again?"

"The small talk and the dawdling." Stiles crossed his arms. "You like me. I like you. Let's go out on a date."

"What?" Derek was dumbfounded. "Why?"

"Because I like you. And against your better judgment, you like me too." Stiles took a few steps forward, meeting Derek in the middle of the kitchen. "You like me and I like you. Maybe we should go on a date. Maybe Daddy and Stiles should kiss."

Derek swallowed nervously. "I… Maybe we should." He took half a step back. "But Stiles, I need you to know."

"Know what? About Jen? Oh, trust me, I know. Scott told me-"

Derek silenced him with a shake of his head. "I need you to know why this needs to be more than just a date."

"Oh?"

"You like Elias. You love him. And you treat him well. That kid is my entire life, and you have a relationship with him. You're kind and interesting and you've never once given up on me, Stiles, whether it's making me be your friend or it's getting me to do something for myself instead of just the pack, you care about me, for whatever reason, and that beguiles me, above all else, but it makes me-"

He wasn't talking anymore. His mouth was moving, but it wasn't talking. Ah, that's why. Stiles was kissing him. Stiles was kissing him with a passion and ferocity usually reserved for films and television, when two estranged lovers finally met in the rain.

Then his hands were on Stiles' waist, and he was kissing back without his brain's permission, and Stiles' hands were in his hair, and he was shoving Stiles against the countertop, and he was nipping his bottom lip, and he felt… _right_.


	6. Chapter 6: Six months Later

Derek never had any finesse. "I need you to move out." He told Isaac, Erica, and Boyd one day.

"What?!" Erica squeaked, dropping Darby's hands and forcing her daughter to stand on her own. "Why?"

"Derek, we've been living with you since… Nheh… left." Boyd avoided saying her name. It made Derek do painful things to them. With his teeth. "You still need help with Elias."

"I can take care of Elias." Derek rolled his eyes. "I have so far."

"Except for the one time-" Isaac pointed out.

"And the time after that-" Boyd hummed.

"And… who pulled your watch out of the toilet again?" Erica said snootily. "That's right, Derek. I can never wear that shirt again, because you can't watch your kid."

"I'll be fine, guys." Derek insisted. "Isaac, you need to find a place of your own anyway. Boyd, you're being shipped out next week anyway-"

"What about me?" Erica pouted indignantly. "Where am I supposed to go?"

"Don't you think it's about time you moved in with Lydia? You _have a child together_."

"Darby isn't hers." Erica said quietly.

"No, but she agreed to raise the brat with you if you came back to her." Isaac pointed out. "I bet Lydia would love you there."

"Something's up, Derek." Boyd finally got to the point. "What? Why do you want us out?"

Derek sighed. "I think it would be hard to have you three, Elias, _and_ Stiles living here." The corner of his mouth curved up at the last bit.

Erica squealed. "You asked him to live with you?!"

"And raise Elias with me." Derek played with his hands in his lap.

"God, fucking finally!" Erica groaned, jumping up to hug Derek enthusiastically. "After six long, long months, you two are going to be happy together forever."

"Woah, woah, he didn't say he was proposing." Boyd said, keeping Erica in the realms of reality. "They're just moving in."

"But we all know it's happening. Derek and Stiles belong together. People have been writing about their love since the beginning of time!"

"Something tells me that's wrong." Derek chuckled, giving her half of a hug. "Plus, I"m going to wait until he's officially done with Grad School before I think about popping any questions."

" _Oh my God Derek_!"


End file.
